Feb 25, 2015, the year of Our Lord

This is a link to The Boat online. Note: it's a PDF

We have received unto us rumours of confusion about the specificities of the assignment with which you have been tasked.

These rumours have saddened us greatly. 

IN EFFECT: 

Stop trying to come up with the right answers. 

Don’t worry about how to do this “right”. The answer is potentially irrelevant. 

Here is what is relevant: 

YOU create an analysis structure that YOU apply (groups) - source material - blog, notes, group discussion, confer with teacher, short story, online, etc

YOU can prove or justify or back up anything that you write, so you are, in effect, showing that you have the right answers anyway. We also discussed that format in class 

Thesis (a question, a statement you make, a belief you have, an association you’re making, etc)

Explanation (how does the above work? details, make sure reader gets it)

Example (where do I see the “thing” in the story? the point, the moment, the actual line, the source thing that makes you have the thesis)

Reasoning (how does the example prove or show your thesis (or point) - use logical argument and discussion to show this

Linkage (how is this important and meaningful to your thesis - line it all up and make it fit as a flow of argument that….

New Thesis or Thesis as Proven - proved your point

Pre-read - 

Initial read - style and structure, power words (phrases)

PLOT (why important)

realism

suspense

how the ending is built towards by XYZ

foreshadow

SETTING

mood/atmosphere

specific - East Coast - tone

meaningful/symbolic

OH! creative piece - presentational piece! - texture for the setting

CHARACTER

Dad

Mom 

characterization - who are they, why are they like that, what does it mean? 

extrapolate - push out to your own life and thinking - how do these parents line up with my own? (text to self) 

POV character - arc? 

symbolism in character?

THEME

symbolics that lead out into our world, universals, human psych stuff (things that resonate with all of us) - mother - child relationship (The Leap, etc), but in The Boat it is really specific and different

meaning that each person can pull out - wider meaning - the small becomes large when we look at theme - 

Author/context theme?